first let me say hello, im new to the site, i am so interested in becoming fit.
My problem now is that I am 135lbs and 5'8.5". I went to a specialist who calculated I have 28.5%body fat, so as you can imagine, I'm just a flabby mess.
I eat about 1200 calories a day, not really minding whether they're carbs or protein, or fat. The dietist has made me start a 1600 calorie diet,
<--first impression, i dont even think my BMR is that high 30% of that is fat calories.
She wants me to tone up, she says i will gain weight explaining the whole muscle weighs more than fat.
The thing is, I want to be tone, at lets say 140, i want to lose fat and gain muscle, and be at a good weight.
I dont want to gain weight of muscle on top of the fat I already have and have it dilute the fat percentage. I dont want her to look at me and say I weigh like 160 and say that my body fat is real low, when i might have the same amount of fat as i do now, just with muscle to dilute the percentage?
i know to lose fat i need to burn more calories than i consume, but my BMR is less than 1600, so i'll have to burn to not gain, and at the same time burn some more if i want to burn fat
so was she wrong in making me consume so much?
does the muscle start burning the fat i already have
what to do i'm confused
doing this new diet is such a leap of faith for me,
and she never specified exercises to do,
i dont know i'm a mess right now
I dont know your age, and that is a big factor, I am 55 years old, but age at my time in life, is just a number! I have to work much harder at that number!
If you want to build muscle, hit the gym. (see beginners prog below). If you just want to lean down walk/jog/run 3 miles twice a day. That will consume about 400 to 800 calories a day depending if it is a walk or run and jogging is inbetween.
You are lucky to have a specialist, they are rarely wrong. She is not a weight trainer so she probably assumes you will use your initiative and get workout programs from a gym. (or see my program I started on below)
Building muscle and losing fat is what I am doing right now and have been for 3 months. It is a constant challenge and your weight yo-yo's from week to week, but take some pics (mirrors lie) and compare them monthly.
Here is a suggestion and where I started at the gym. Run it past your specialist before starting anything like this.
You will do no more than 3 sets of each exercise, your reps for all exercises will be "15" 1st set, "12" 2nd set, and "10" 3rd set. You will wear a watch and put exactly 1 minute between each set, and 2 minutes between different exercises. All your first sets of 15 will be lighter than the next and same for 12 reps lighter than the last 10 reps. (example your bench starts at 15 reps 80lb, then 12 reps 90lb followed by 10 reps 100lb) Do this system for all exercises and the last few reps must be a struggle, pain and aching.
You will use slow and exact form to start and each rep will be "non explosive" the opposite infact, 2seconds up and 2 seconds down. You will build better connective tissue and muscle coming down slowly than allowing the weights to fall. It makes 15 reps more like 30 this way as more control and effort is required when lowering weights.
You breathe out when pushing up (blow the weights up) and inhale on the way down and bottom. The average respitory rate is 12 breaths per minute, using exertion you will be doing 15 breaths per minute with this method. You get a minute break between sets to stabilise oxygen intake as well.
Before each workout you will raise your pulse rate doing 5 minutes on a rowing machine or stationary cycle. You should be breathing heavy and feel it by the end, maybe even some sweat. This is to prepare you blood circulation pre workout. If you are doing legs first use the stationary cycle, if you are doing upper body first use the rowing mackine, it will circulate the blood and oxygen around the muscle group you are about to work on.
LEGS
Leg Press
Thigh Curls
CHEST
Bench Press
Pec Dec
BACK
Seated Rowing
Lat Pulldowns
SHOULDERS
Military Press (Behind Back) I use the smith machine for this, it is safer when you start.
TRICEPS
Pushdowns
BICEPS
Dumbell Curls
ABDOMINALS (6 days a week)
3 x 20 Crunches
3 x 20 knee lifts
That's it. Now you do this 3 days a week with a day rest between each workout.
CARDIO.
Start your walking everyday and build upto 3 miles walk a day by the end of the month. 6 days a week. If you cant cycle more than 15 miles a day, then walk as too much coasting goes on with cycling, no coasting goes on with walking. If you walk 3 miles at any pace, you have walked 3 miles.
This is a good begginners program if you cant jog/run already.
"Fron the couch to 3 miles a day" (coolrunning forum)
I cant post url's until I have made 15 posts, so just put the http and www before coolrunning dot com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
Now your specialist has your calorie intake organised and she will have to adjust it as you do more exercise, and you have some exercises to do !
I dont understand how you can be a flabby mess @ 5'81/2" and 135lbs? I am only 1/2" taller at 5'9" and 176lbs ?? I was 250lbs Xmas 2008! now that was a flabby mess!! I dont think I will ever be 135lbs, that would appear anorexic to me !! I am shooting for 186lb of lean muscle mass, so I want to build 10lbs of muscle in 2010, by next xmas. See my before and after pics in my album. I am on 3,200 calories a day, BUT, I workout 6 days and jog 3 or 6 miles a day depending if I am hitting an overtraining slump or not. When I feel fatigued or head cold symptoms I rest and skip a walk/jog. I do 2 walk/jogs a day 3 miles each.
You can do it!! This is not rocket science, dummys do it all the time and succeed.
